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' "grasa fluff/afar 'mi u| I Winamax' VM MMM@ D iMnRoi/EMENTMN HAVSTRS- d i Specification forming part of IIettersfPatentlNo. `SLS-32g; dated-.September 151868:.;

Toalliwhomft magi-concern'.-

.- Beit-known than, n. -BL` sinne;` @moches ter, inthe county of Beaver and Stateof. .Penn` sylvania, have invented an Improved Mowing- Machine; and I do hereby declarefthat'fthe following is afull and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification- Figure l being a top view of a mowing-machine constructed with my improvements 5 Fig. 2, a side elevation thereof, with a crosssection of the cutter-bar and finger-bar; Figs. 3 and 4, views of parts detached.

Like letters designate corresponding parts in all of the figures.

My improvements relate to various parts of the machine, to be particularized in succession.

Instead of the usual heavy rigid connecting-bar between the front part of the frame and the shoe, I employ two light rods or bars, D D, united at the forward joint a, also at b, near the middle, and at c, at the rear end, where they are pivoted to the shoe T, forward of the finger-bar G, thereby allowing a much freer movement to the nger-bar, and more perfect adaptability to the uneven surface of the ground. This construction also lightens this part of the machine many pounds. In connection with this light double construction of the connecting-bar, and pivoting it to the shoe T in front ofthe finger-bar, I employ what I have termed a false shoe,7 E, of thin flexible material, situated under the rear portion of the connecting-bar and under the shoe T. It is attached at its forward end by a pivot-joint at b to the connecting-bars D D, and has a keeper, fw, at the rear end, iitting into a notch or slot in the rear end of the shoe T. Its rear' end turns up, so that it will run j over the ground without en countering obstructions when the machine is backed, and in run-l ning over the ground it supports the parts above it. Being flexible, it allows afree movement of the. finger-bar above it, and of the joint-connection-between the shoe T and connecting-bars D D. An adjusti1ig-screw,f, ex-

tendsdown through the shoe T, close to the chain or cord; dnis rattached to Vthefalse shoe, whizhfbearing.-v under .the :adjusting-screw.- -f,: supports the shoe T and connecting-bars D D uponitirigidly.: z.. y .f i.

Instead. ofthetusualenplancof?` i locating the brace-ban in front Ioffthefpitman.l Ka and- -of as shown, and pivot it to the shoe T, back of the finger-bar, while its upper end is secured by a joint, (preferably a ball-and-socket joint,) as at h, which is inline with the axis of the crank-shaft O of the pitman, and which allows a free movement of the lower end of the bar with the shoe. This arrangement of the bracebar gives it greater leverage for support, and hence greater iirmness to, and allows a freer movement of, the shoe and cutting apparatus than the ordinary arrangement. It has a wrist-bearing, g, at its lower end, so constructed as to be tightened at pleasure.

The brace-bar M at its upper end is hinged to a projecting or arched brace, N, secured to the supporting-bracket of the crank-shaft of the machine, and behind the pitman. This arch-brace is strong and firm, though adding but little weight to the machine.

To give motion to the pitman crank-shaft O, a driving-wheel, i, on the axle-shaft C, gears into a pinion, l, located on a stationary aXis, P, and this pinion, when coupled to another wheel, p, on the same axis, which matches into a pinion, i", on the crank-shaft, turns said shaft.

lTo couple the pinion l to the cog-wheel p, two notched wheels or disks, m u, attached to said pinion and wheel, respectively, are brought together; and to uncouple, they are separated by sliding the pinion away, as indicated in Fig. 3, and in the act of sliding away from the wheel p the said pinion becomes unmatched from the wheel i.

Difficulty is ordinarily experienced in again matching the pinion into the wheel t' when the machine is in motion, often rendering it necessary to stop the machine for the purpose. My improvement in this device consists in adding a spring, u, to one side of the lever-arm S, by which the pinion is moved, and allowing the lever to move in a slot, mortise, or loop of the pinion-yoke s, substantially as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, so that the lever can be moved from one notch, t, Fig. 1, to the other, even without moving the pinion i, the sprin g u yielding and.

allowing the lever its movement. Then, when the machine moves, as soon as the teeth of the Wheel 'i are brought into the proper relation to the teeth of the pinion l, the sprin g u automatically matches them together, and couples the pinion to the Wheel p.

This spring is applicable, for a like purpose, to other arrangements for matching cog-Wheels together.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The construction of the drag-bar of two light bars, D D, connected by bolts a b c, which also serve as pivotconnections, respectively, with the frame A, false shoe E, and shoe T, substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

2. Pivoting the drag-bar to the shoe T, for- Ward of the finger-bar G, the forward end of the shoe being adjustable in height by the screw f or its equivalent, While the rear end has a free sliding movement on the false shoe E, under the keeper w, substantially as herein set forth. f Y

3. The false shoe E, constructed and arranged as set forth, in combination with the drag-bar D D, shoe T, and the nger-bar G,

of March, 1868. Y

A. B. SMITH.

Witnesses:

J. S. BROWN, AEDM. F. BROWN. 

